Dmitry Kharachenko is a trailblazer in the intersecting worlds of technology and business. His journey and experience reflect a deep integration of technical prowess and strategic, creative business leadership. Over two decades, he shaped his career as a notable figure in the tech and entrepreneurial space, constantly pushing the boundaries of digital innovation and business transformation.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with Digital First Magazine, Dmitry shared his professional trajectory, the inspiration behind establishing TechBiz Global, the best piece of advice he has ever received, significant career milestones, personal sources of inspiration, plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Dmitry. Can you please tell us about your background and areas of interest?
Hello, I’m Dmitry Kharchenko, I am a tech-savvy entrepreneur which builds startups and tech services companies for over twenty years in the field. I have a great combination of tech and business knowledge. I am the CEO & Founder of TechBiz Global and also an active CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and CDO (Chief Data Officer).
I started my career in the Army’s lead technological Cyber Security Squad, then built systems in Business Intelligence for clients like Coca-Cola and other companies. I started my entrepreneur journey with Wizevision International I built several startups in various roles of Founder, CTO, CDO, and others and had several success stories.
- Firelayers (Cyber Security) exit to Proofpoint.
- MoneyMap (FinTech)
- Bonify (FinTech) exit to Schufa.
- Friendsurance (InsureTech).
I am the owner of several awards including “Top 25 Financial Technology CTOs of 2021” by the financial technology report and “Top 10 CTOs to Watch in 2024” by international business times.
My commitment extends beyond business; I’m also passionate about mentoring and fostering emerging tech and business leaders. I consult several startups and mentor at Founders Institute and Intel Ignite. In addition, I do personal coaching, speaking, and teaching.
I am always interested in the combination of business and technology represented by startups and corporates. I like to build startups, tech products and help my teams grow professionally.
I am a strong believer that innovative digital solutions can simplify the lives of users and that data have great value for customer-friendly products.
What was the inspiration behind establishing TechBiz Global? What sets it apart from its competitors?
TechBiz Global started as a spark of an idea, driven by the need to solve real-world tech business challenges: the need for talent & software solutions. I always had a passion for technology and talent. The first talent company I built with a friend I studied with at University many years ago. I wanted always to help people with career growth. Our journey is a testament to persistence and innovation which is marked by opening our Headquarters in Berlin, Germany. In addition, it was interesting for me as many years ago I built such a company, but on a smaller scale, and now I am doing it on international level.
Our mission is to enable customers with sustainable growth and strategic innovation through a synergy of visionary talent and intelligent technology.
We are different because we are obsessed with customer success and focusing on providing real value. We build long-term relationships and have some customers now who were my customers 15 years ago. I am a successful CTO & CDO myself so we can understand the real needs of the companies and recommend the best possible recruitment or software development strategy. As I founded startups myself, we can solve the challenges of the startups much faster and easier as I bring huge baggage of the learnings from more than 20 years of my career. The speed of work is a differentiator too as our KPIs and response times are exceeding the standards. Moreover, we have access to 10th of thousands of vetted candidates which helps to have the right person starting soon.
Our company’s journey is a global story. We’ve adapted to various geographical challenges and embraced remote work. Our innate flexibility became particularly crucial with our fast support for our clients. We managed to build a vastly international team allowing us to continue our operations seamlessly. We have team members from Lithuania, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Israel, Thailand and many other countries.
What is also important is we have a lot of fun.
Our end goal is to support sustainability, give equal opportunities, and grow as a global recruitment and software development services leader.
You are a member of several German Community Networks. Can you tell us about those networks and its mission and vision?
I am helping to develop ecosystems that support startups, technology leaders, talent, and innovation. There are several exceptional communities and programs that I am part of. At Intel Ignite I am a Juror for the selection of the deep tech startups for the accelerator programs. I am part of the Founders Institute which helps early-stage founders. In addition, I am speaking and sometimes teaching in ESMT about business models and startups. I am also part of CTO communities as it helps to collaborate exchange knowledge and help grow our ecosystem.
Which disruptive, emerging technologies do you expect to have the biggest impact in your sector?
AI, generative AI is now impacting almost every industry including HRTech and IT. I believe that we are living in a fantastic time when people have access to technology and tools that were unimaginable before. For example, OpenAI just released Sora and you can turn text to video easily. It looks indeed realistic. I am playing with my kids using AI. They can scan their drawing and AI-powered mechanisms recreate the figures on the web and then make it dance. Cloud providers all release the capabilities of generative AI. AWS released Q and Bedrock. AI is not a new thing, but now it has the acceleration. I use ChatGPT every day. Developer experience significantly improved with tools like ChatGPT, Gemini – Google coding assistant, GitHub Copilot – coding assistant, which uses OpenAI Codex trained on billions of lines of code, AWS Code Whisperer optimized for AWS APIs. Creativity is different nowadays like turning text to image with DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney. AI is changing the recruitment and software development business indeed including powered by AI, messaging, talent communication, co-piloting developers, and building automated systems.
In your academic or work career, were there any mentors who have helped you grow along the way? What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?
I did have several Role models throughout my entire career journey more than mentors or coaches. I am always curious about how to do tech, processes, strategy, or anything else even better, striving for change, excellence, and faster growth. There were many examples of such.
Army commander, from whom I learned persistence and an easy approach to problem-solving.
Founders and CEOs of some companies where I worked, from whom I learned business acumen and strategy. Moreover, I learned sometimes how not to do things.
Various Tech Leaders, from whom I learned technical excellence and agile approaches.
Professor of organizational behavior, from whom I learned approaches and methodologies of organizational psychology.
The role of education is important, but in many cases, it is more for building your character and widening your choices.
I say you should become a role model for yourself. One of the good pieces of advice I give now to growing leaders is to use visualization techniques that allow you to act as the owner of the new role that you want and not the role that you have now. This is one of the best pieces of advice which helps to clarify many decisions and behaviors. I received pieces of advice too and one that stands out is “To find something that you love at professional work”. Since then my advice has been “Love what you do at work, business, and your environment”. I believe that it is important to feel good in the company or environment that you are building. Your chances of success and satisfaction can be much higher.
The meaning of leadership can change from one era to the other, how would you define the meaning of leadership today?
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the meaning of leadership has indeed undergone significant transformations. It encompasses a blend of vision, adaptability, empathy, and the ability to inspire and empower others in a dynamic environment. Leadership today is about navigating complexity with vision, empathy, and agility while empowering and inspiring others to achieve shared goals in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. It’s a blend of strategic foresight, emotional intelligence, and ethical stewardship, guided by a commitment to innovation, collaboration, and continuous growth.
What do you feel has been your ‘career-defining’ moment?
There were several impactful things, and each one has shaped the path of my career development. Probably first was exposure to the innovation in the Army with the topics of cyber security and others. Then working as an Engineer with every new employer or client allowed me to grow as a leader and shape my focus and tactics on achieving the goals. With my first business (WizeVision International) I learned a lot by providing recruitment services to different corporates, and understood how much I love this combination of business and tech. The First Cyber Security startup shaped the way I work and instilled belief in the rapid innovation strategies of startups. Moreover, the immigration that I did in my life and family had a tremendous impact and supported my decisions about my career path. I think now it is very inspiring to build TechBiz Global and work with so many technologically advanced tech companies. It is impactful and encouraging to do it on the international level.
What surprised you the most in your journey so far and what did you learn from it?
The biggest surprise was that some things are much easier when you start. To make it right. The life of an entrepreneur and CTO is interesting and has its ups and downs, but sometimes the sole belief in yourself solves all the things one after another. Asking for help or advice in many cases so simple and so powerful that people should not underestimate it. Yes, the life of an entrepreneur is not relaxed sometimes, no doubt, but it is also exciting and rewarding.
What is it that motivates and inspires you in your everyday life?
My family and my businesses inspire me. Family is the true source of support indeed. On the business side, I am building a better future with tech businesses and developing an ecosystem which in my opinion is very important from many life and science perspectives.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
On the work-related side, I would continue growing professionally and personally and do what I love to do in business and tech.
What words of advice do you have for aspiring young entrepreneurs?
I would advise young entrepreneurs to do what they love, network, and learn endlessly in a rapidly changing digital world.
It is extremely important to find a way where you thrive and happy at what you do. Hence it has a huge impact on results.
Build your network from the first day. It is important to talk to experts, receive feedback, and adjust.
Learn and invest in your own and your team’s knowledge. Today’s innovation cycle is very quick. It can be 2-3 years before a completely new grade of technologies and tools are coming, so it is important to see what is on the market and fully utilize it for the benefit of the company.